


Slice

by Lady_Zephyr



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Blood, Crying, Cutting, Help, Injury, M/M, Self-Harm, Seriously why do I make characters cry in all of my stories, Tears, road to recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 07:18:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14689194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Zephyr/pseuds/Lady_Zephyr
Summary: Once again, Noctis is hurt in battle.Once again, Prompto feels it's his fault.





	Slice

Red.

What a beautiful color.

Prompto watched as it leaked from his skin, transfixed by the patterns it made in the water as it circled the drain. A sound caught in his throat, somewhere between a moan and a cry. 

He sat back on his heels and looked up at the stream of water crashing over him. Such sweet warm drops, the shower made warmer still with his panting breaths. He let the water strike his face, washing away his tears as quickly as they could fall. This was a pain he had become accustomed to, one he even yearned for on days like this.

Prompto frowned. Today hadn’t been very good. His best friend had almost died and it was all because of him. He panicked in combat. Having been shocked too many times by the coeurl’s whiskers, he chose to keep his distance and strayed back farther than normal. When the MT’s dropped in the middle of an already fierce battle, all he could do was scream for help.

Noctis dropped everything, immediately turning to find his friend surrounded by magitek assassins. He threw his sword with as much strength as he could muster, the warp strike taking down one machine with a shrill howl. The other machines turned their attention to the prince and threw themselves into a frenzied spin, sharp blades held at arms length – a deadly blender of steel and darkness.

He dodged the attacks in that dazzling warping sidestep he had almost come to master. Almost. A blade found its mark and Noctis was thrown to the ground with a yell, dark blood spilling from his wounds.

_Red._

Prompto froze, eyes glued to the cut. His breath hitched and his heart pounded in his ears. He couldn’t move, his attention was focused solely on that glistening red stream flowing from his friend.

The next thing he knew Gladio was shaking him awake. Prompto muttered an excuse about getting hit in the head and passing out, combing a hand through his hair in an effort to be believable. Out of concern for Noct and Prompto, the group decided to splurge on a real hotel that night. That’s what led him to this moment.

He looked back down at himself, at the thin red line cutting across his thigh. The blood was beginning to slow as the healing process began, but it wasn’t enough. The pain wasn’t enough. He needed more – deserved more pain. He needed to be punished for causing his best friend’s injury.

The knife in his hand was tiny, some cheap folding knife he picked up at a gas station somewhere. But it was razor sharp. He kept it in his back pocket as a reminder. If he fucked up, it was always within reach. 

Now it was flipped open, the short blade spotted with water droplets. Prompto gripped the handle tightly and brought the blade against his skin. A few inches below the first line, staggered a bit to the left, hands steady as he applied pressure. 

“Ah-“ He choked, a little more loudly than he anticipated. But he kept concentrated, watched the blade disappear into his flesh as it split in two.

A knock at the door made him jolt. “Prompto, are you all right? You’ve been in there quite a while.” Ignis asked.

“Y-yeah dude, I’ll be out in a second.” 

Shit.

His hand was shaking. The knife clattered to the floor and Prompto watched as the falling water cleaned the blade. He leaned back against the bathtub breathing heavily. He was light headed, gasping for breath as he struggled to stay conscious. The side of the tub was cool against his face and he leaned into it looking away from his leg.

There was so much blood. Sure, the effect was probably amplified by the water, but he wasn’t thinking clearly. He had gotten startled, lost his concentration, cut too deep.

 _Call for Ignis._ The voice in his head advised. But he ignored it, choosing to stay put until the lightheadedness subsided and he could breathe again. Finally, when he was able to sit up straight, he reached out and shut off the water. Prompto picked himself up, legs shaking like a newborn fawn, and took a tentative step out of the tub. Lightning shot through his wounds and he stumbled, but managed to keep himself from falling.

 _How do I fix this mess._ He wondered. He dried himself with trembling hands, careful to pat the fresh cuts and not irritate them too much. The deeper of the two was throbbing, fresh red pricks rising to the surface each time he wiped them away. More knocks on the door, more questioning voices. He needed to get dressed; silently hoping his dark jeans would mask the blood if the cut reopened.

After taking a few deep breaths he opened the bathroom door and walked into the hotel room.

“Did you get lost?” Noctis jabbed, “Dude, you were in there for, like, an hour.”

Prompto smiled weakly and scratched the back of his head. “The water just felt too good, ya know? After camping so often and all.”

“‘Bout damn time.” Gladio said. “I gotta take a leak.” 

Prompto watched as the broad man passed him and closed the door with a soft click. Across the room Ignis was preparing to serve dinner, the smell making Prompto’s stomach growl. He walked over to the small table and sat next to Noctis. He felt the stinging pull of the cut separating, and it took everything in his body to prevent him from calling out.

“Whoa, you okay? You got super pale all of a sudden.” Noctis’ face was one of worry.

“Dude, I’m always pale.” Prompto joked. His face contorted into what he hoped was a smile. A numb warmth started to spread through him again, the floating feeling returning forcefully. 

_Just get through dinner and you can call it a night._ Prompto thought. “Whatcha make Iggy? It smells good.” Take the bait, change the topic. He had to make this about something other than himself. New pain seared into his thigh as he shifted his weight, the rough fabric of his jeans pressing against the wound.

“Roasted daggerquill with saxham rice and vegetables-“ Ignis paused as Noct groaned loudly, “Which you _will_ eat, your highness. After that disastrous attack today, you need all the nutrients you can get.” He worked at plating the meal before addressing them again. “How is your head Prompto? That must have been a rather nasty hit to knock you out like that.”

Prompto gave the tall man a puzzled look before snapping into a hasty smile. “Oh! Yeah. No, I’m fine now. You know those MT’s though, solid, metal death machines.” He laughed nervously. His leg throbbed.

The door to the bathroom squeaked open as Gladio stepped out. Stepping into the center of the room, he stopped, unsure of how to proceed. “So, uh, Prompto…” He began, “You wanna tell us why you left a knife in the shower? It looks like there’s blood on the hinge.”

Prompto’s face dropped and his eyes grew wide. This wasn’t supposed to happen. How could he have been so careless as to leave the knife in the bathtub? The beating in his ears grew deafening, syncing up with the throbbing wound on his thigh. It was so loud he was sure the other three could hear it too.

“I…I get... I get ingrown toenails sometimes. Yeah, it’s easier to deal with when I’m in the shower. No need to show you guys my gross feet.” More nervous laughter. It sounded so insincere he knew the others wouldn’t buy it. 

Gladio’s eyes narrowed. With a wary exhale, he closed the knife and moved to hand it to the blonde. As Prompto reached out, he noticed Gladio looking up and down his arms. Thinking quickly, he made a smart remark.

“Whoa, big guy. Toenails, remember?” He twisted his arms so show Gladio there were no marks, smiling as he did so. He would never cut his arms. They were always so exposed, an open book for everyone to read from. No, he kept his marks private, those intricate scars were for him and him alone. He plucked the knife from Gladio’s hand and twisted to put it in his back pocket, his leg was absolutely screaming from the movement. He was unsure of how much longer he would be able to keep it together. Luckily Ignis approached the table with two delicious smelling plates of food. 

The atmosphere in the room was tense as the chef placed the steaming plates on the table before the two youngest men. Prompto hurriedly dug into his meal, grateful for the chance to look at something other than his friends. If he kept looking at them they might see the pain he was barely keeping contained. 

“Prompto, there’s something wet on your leg.” Ignis placed a gloved hand on the blonde’s shoulder. He was shaking slightly, the motion hadn’t even been visible until Ignis physically touched him.

Any remaining color drained from Prompto’s face as he responded with a quiet, “I-I must have m-missed a spot drying off.” He focused on the meal, the shaking knife clattering against the dish as he cut off a piece of juicy daggerquill. There were tears in his eyes as he brought his fork to trembling lips, the rest of the group watching silently as he pushed himself to eat.

“It’s nothing.” He lied, scooping vegetables onto the prongs. A loud sniffle pierced the silence when his hand began trembling too badly to hold his fork. Setting down the utensil, he covered his face with his hands, shielding his friends from the sight of his falling tears. “Please, it’s nothing. Just let it go.” He whispered.

“Prompto! What the hell? Is this from the battle today? Why didn’t you tell us you got hurt?” Noct asked. Prompto stayed quiet. He was tired of being the cause of his best friend’s pain. He would rather suffer a thousand times in silence than have to see Noctis bleeding because of his mistake. Noct grabbed at pale hands, prying them away from a tear streaked face. “Prom… what happened to you?”

The words were gentle, a kindness that Prompto didn’t deserve. His bottom lip was trembling, and he realized the other three men were waiting for him to explain. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on taking deep breaths. He could hear the other men breathing and focused on breathing with them. He needed to calm down. He could get himself out of this mess, but he needed time to think first.

Ignis gently shook Prompto’s shoulders. “Why don’t you let me tend to your wound. Then we can finish supper and talk about it afterward?” 

”NO!” Prompto yelled. He stood from his chair and quickly tried to make his way toward the hotel door. He needed to get out of here. Nevermind causing a scene, there was no way he could let anyone see his scars. They would raise too many questions. Questions he wasn’t ready to answer. A large hand firmly grabbed Prompto’s arms, stopping him dead in his tracks. 

“Prompto, look at yourself. You’re bleeding all over the floor. Just let Iggy patch you up and everything will be all right.” Gladio held him steady, preventing him from reaching the door. Lowering his head, Prompto saw what Gladio was talking about, a trail of blood spots snaking from the hem of his pants across the dingy carpet of the motel.

“Let me go.” Prompto whispered. The sudden movement caused his pants to rub painfully across the fresh cuts. His head was spinning and he barely heard himself speak. Black and white fuzz pressed in on the sides of his vision.

“Huh-uh, you’re gonna go sit down and tell us what happened.” 

Prompto lurched forward falling into Gladio. The shield held him firmly and lowered the blonde safely to the floor. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were unfocused and hazy. 

“Please…” was all Prompto managed to squeak out before the world around him faded to black.

\------------------------------

The room was light when he woke up, and the first thing Prompto noticed was that he felt good. Better than good, he felt great. He was warm, comfortable, no sign of pain anywhere on his body. He wasn’t supposed to feel this way. Panic gripped Prompto’s mind. He sat up quickly and threw the blankets off of his legs. He was dressed only in his black sleeveless shirt and a pair of chocobo print boxers. 

They saw everything. The knife, the scars, the fresh cuts - _everything._

His mind was moving a thousand miles a minute, calculating what he was going to say, how to answer questions that hadn’t been asked yet. 

_Ok, calm down Prompto. They haven’t said anything yet. Maybe you can brush it off as childhood injuries, or scars from a cactuar attack._ The thought died as quickly as it came. There was no way he would be able to convince them the fresh cuts were from the earlier attack. 

“Mornin’.” Noctis yawned. The price was seated at the table, his head propped up on an upturned palm. He was staring out of the tiny window of the room and didn’t look at Prompto directly when he heard the blonde wake up. Closing his eyes, Noctis yawned loudly and then blinked slowly against the light filtering through the curtains. 

“Good morning.” Prompto quietly replied, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “Where’s Ignis and Gladio?” The brown haired duo were nowhere to be seen and Prompto guessed they had left Noctis behind as a baby sitter.

“They went out to get more potions and stuff. Shouldn’t be gone too long.” He continued to stare out the window. 

Prompto felt nervous. This wasn’t at all how he imagined Noctis would react. There were no tears, no angry remarks, no accusatory tones. In a way, he was glad. Maybe they would just let this incident slide and never bring it up again.

“So how long have you been… you know… doing _that._ ” Noctis questioned. Prompto’s heart dropped into his stomach. So much for letting it slide. He let his head fall and gazed at the marks peeking out from under the edge of his boxers. The cuts from the previous night were gone. Ignis must have used a potion to heal the wound while he was unconscious.

“It’s… it’s been a while.” Prompto muttered. His hands curled in the sheets. 

“Why?” Noctis pushed. “We fight so often, get hurt so often… why hurt yourself even more?”

“It feels different… when you do it yourself.” Prompto kept looking down at his skin. So many tiny scars. He thought no one would ever find out if he kept them in a secluded place. The blonde moved his hands to cover up the marks on his thighs. 

This was his own stupid fault. If only he never picked up that knife. If only he never had the urge to drag it across his skin in that delightfully painful way. If only he didn’t feel the guilt hanging like a lump in his throat after every perfectly planned cut. 

If only he could get that color out of his head.

Prompto dug his nails into his skin. He needed this, deserved it for making his friends worry about him. For making _Noctis_ worry about him. Slowly, his fingers flexed back and forth, digging his nails deeper and deeper into his skin with each stroke. He was so distracted he didn’t even notice Noctis move. 

Warm hands grabbed at Prompto’s wrists, pulling them away from his tortured skin.

“Stop it.” Noctis growled. “Stop hurting yourself.” He leaned forward, pushing Prompto onto his back and straddled the blonde’s waist. Noctis pinned his arms against the bed on either side of his face. “Please, stop it Prom.”

Prompto watched as his friend’s eyes filled with tears. The salty liquid overflowed and dropped onto his freckled cheeks, but Prompto remained still. Noctis lowered himself until their chests were touching, pressing his face into the crook of Prompto’s neck. His hands release their captives and dig under the slender blonde’s body, pulling them together as close as they can get. 

“We’ve lost everything Prom.” Noctis cries into Prompto’s shoulder. “You have to stop. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you too.”

Prompto holds still as Noctis trembles, clinging to his body as if the blonde might disappear if he lets go. His blue-violet eyes grow wide with his best friend’s words. 

“But I just feel so terrible. I’m the reason you keep getting hurt. Maybe if I were strong like Gladio, or quick like Ignis… then maybe you wouldn’t have gotten hurt yesterday.” Prompto sniffles, his own tears beginning to form as well. “You guys get hurt all the time because of me. This is the only thing that makes it better - that makes me feel better about messing up all the time.”

Noct lifts himself up and places his hands firmly on Prompto’s shoulders. Prompto can see the hurt in his friend’s eyes.

“Promise me, “ Noctis chokes, “Promise me you’ll stop doing this.” 

Prompto isn’t sure he understands why Noctis is reacting this way. He expected yelling, anger, commanding him to stop. But these words are soft, a plea rather than a demand. It’s a side of Noctis that Prompto has only seen once before, when they had met up with Iris in Lestallum and mourned the loss of their families.

Noctis brought his hands to Prompto’s face, brushing away the tears falling into his blonde hair. The prince pressed a soft kiss onto Prompto’s forehead, before meeting it with his own. “Please.” He whispered, staring into Prompto’s eyes. “I love you.”

Prompto’s voice caught in his throat, the sound coming out like a strangled cough.

Love? Noctis loved him? Suddenly it all made sense.

Noct insisted on taking the seat behind Ignis when they were riding in the Regalia so it was easier to interact with Prompto. They always sat next to each other at camp or restaurants. It was the reason Noct always asked to get in on Prompto’s selfies and always made sure to check up on him after battles. The reason Noctis warped right into the middle of a group of Magitek Assassins when Prompto was in trouble.

The blonde reached up, and wrapped his arms around Noct’s trembling body.

“I’ll try.” He murmured. “I really will. I might need some help sometimes though.”

Noctis chuckled nervously, and pulled himself away from Prompto. He moved to sit beside his friend and pulled him into a sitting position as well. 

“Just tell me when you’re feeling that way. You really scared me last night, and I want to help you though this.” 

Prompto nodded his head and pulled Noctis into a hug. “Okay. I can do that.”

Noctis stood, grabbing Prompto’s hands to pull him up too. “How about some breakfast then? We have leftover daggerquill and rice from last night? Unless you’d prefer something else?”

Prompto smirked, stood up straight, and in his best Ignis voice said “Only if you eat your vegetables as well. We need all the nutrients we can get, you know.”

Noctis groaned and released Prompto’s hands. “You know what…” he mumbled, turning away from Prompto. The blonde giggled and quickly wrapped his arms around Noctis’ waist, pulling him back against his chest.

“Thank you.” Prompto whispered. When he let go, he walked to the fridge and pulled out a plate of leftovers. He turned back to his best friend, maybe more than that now, and smiled genuinely for the first time in days.

**Author's Note:**

> I like making friends!  
> Come scream about video games with me on [tumblr](https://lady-zephyr.tumblr.com)


End file.
